


Burried Beginnings

by orphan_account



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:45:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3580014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor decides to visit Haven after settling in at Skyhold</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burried Beginnings

Evelynn breathed in the air through her nose, letting the cool wind flow into her and around her as it passed by. The wind pushes her hood off her head, exposing her hair and skin to the surrounding white snow that filled the land with it's bright shimmer. She leans forward to pet her horse, letting the cold winter air nip at her face creating frost on her long eyelashes that turn into droplets of water. The pine trees stood tall amongst the vast, endless frost, the rich green of the leaves swaying to the direction of the wind. Evelynn closes her eyes, imagining when the sun was hiding as she wandered weak and vulnerable towards a faint glowing light in the distance. The sound of wolves that howled in the distance, the harsh sounding gust of cold wind, the slow crunching beneath her feet, it all comes back to her slowly as she moved towards Haven. On her horse she galloped towards what used to be her home, where she lived, talked, trained, after it was buried.

The Inquisition tried to move on from Haven, walking away from it like a bad nightmare, but Evelynn had to see it again for herself, for she blamed herself for it's demise. She felt herself getting closer and closer to where it once stood, her heart beating faster when she notices trees half buried in snow. This was where she caused the avalanche, but the frozen lake, the brick paths, the trebuchets, all hidden beneath a shroud of frost that covered the war that had existed. Her stomach started to churn, her heart beats quicken, she feels sick as she begins regretting coming back, but her curiousity had bested her as she stood on a snow covered graveyard. Lives she couldn't save felt like they were circling around her, shouting her name as they threw blames at her. Why did I need to be the Herald of Andraste? Was it my fault that I got Corypheus' attention? I had to do what I did but... couldn't I have done it better?

She leans in to hug the neck of her horse, trying to find what comfort she could to confront the remnants of her home. A part of her wanted to leave, but a part of her also wanted to re-explore what she used to walk through with familiar faces all around. She dismounts her horse, landing on the snow with a crunch, and moves to the head of the horse. She pets it gently, as it nuzzles her hand in approval, and hugs it again to gain whatever emotional support she could muster at the moment.

"I'll be back, okay?" she says to it, tying the horse to a half buried tree. She moves towards a sharpy shaped stone floor, a roof of the grand building she used to walk into whenever she wanted to plan her next action. The snow was too thick however, and Evelynn takes the gloves off her hands before resting them gently on it, creating a light shallow fire beneath her palms. Small crackles of ember flick up from her hand when she lit a shard of a branch that had swept along with the snow, making Evelynn twitch as the memory of the fight of Haven lingers in her mind. The vision of burning homes, people screaming in them for help before going silent. The shouts and cries of allies and enemies alike echoing through the smoke stained air.

"Inquisitor!"

She turns around, a familiar voice calls out to her in the distance. It was Cullen that had followed her, bringing a horse of his own. Dismounting it and tying it to the tree next to her horse, he runs up to her to find her melting through the snow to get through the grand hall.

"You know shouting at Cassandra to tell someone that you're going to go to Haven doesn't necessarily mean it becomes official business," he sighs.

"Yes I know, but I felt impatient, and today is a good day!" she said, but the sudden joy in her voice felt a bit forced. She didn't want to let him know the guilt that lingered around her and Haven, luckily it seems to go a bit unnoticed by Cullen.

Evelynn had finished burning through the snow, exposing a large area of the stone roof which the hall had. She nods at Cullen, signaling him to step back as she forms a stone fist to punch through it. With a cry she blasts a hole into the roof, letting light finally shine into the darkness inside. She gets the rope that she had carried along with her and throws it down, tying the end securely to a study icicle she formed on the ground.

"Magic... sure it handy, isn't it?" Cullen asks, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Evelynn smiles at the comment, finding it slightly ironic coming from the ex-templar.

They slide down the rope into the familiar dark room, not sure how they would be confronted. The scars of battle were etched onto the walls, blood staining the floors are now dried into dark red splatters. The smell of burning and blood lingered even after what Evenlynn though time would take away, she turns to look to Cullen to see that he mimicked the pained expression of remembering what used to be here. It felt like nothing but death here, but she wanted to be happier than this. The Inquisition has a better home now, somewhere where the strong tall stone walls would protect them, giving hope to their cause.

She clapped her hands together, "Well. Let's see if we can salvage any clothing Josephine has left behind in her office, shall we?" she says in a cheeky tone, and moves towards her old abandoned work room. Cullen smirks a bit as well, catching onto her lighthearted tone to dispel the gloom air. Evelynn lights the still standing torches that hung on the walls as they moved away from the circle of sunlight that beamed through the hole in the roof, entering Josephine's room with the creak of the door.

Evelynn rummages the drawers and chests that were in the room, and to her expectation she had found nothing. Just what she expects from Josephine as she keeps all her fine formal clothing with her. Cullen looks through notes that were left behind, a messy assortment of scrapped research notes and reports, running his hand through the papers trying to find anything useful. As they looked up from their salvaging, they understood from the looks of their faces that they had found nothing important. They moved through the doors and tables for any shard of information that was left behind in the sudden need to flee.

They went downstairs into the prison, where it all started for her as they chains she was bound in is sprawled on the floor. The smell of rusted iron, the sense of questions and guilt, the taste of justice, it was all still here.

"Did you visit me when I was passed out here?" Evelynn asks Cullen, crouching down to examine the shackles that were around her wrist while the mark stings her hand.

"Well, you were our prisoner so..." he says, walking into one of the prison cells as a small shimmer catches his eye. Evelynn see's this as a moment to strike, and closes the prison door.

"H-hey!" he says as he runs towards the door, Evelynn giggling playfully at him as he tries to shake the bars open. To their surprise, the bars snap, leaving Cullen a free man as he chases her. "You'll pay for that!" he laughs as he catches her, holding her in her arms as she tries to wriggle free. They laughed for a while, not expecting how easily those bars would break.

"We held actual prisoners in those," he said, shaking his head at the aging iron. The laughter and play faded quickly though, they were in a prison after all, and they both cleared out of the room together.

They searched through the old war room last, Evelynn's nose tingling at the faint smell of burning candle and the maps that layed on the large table in front of them. She slides her fingers along the surface of the wooden table, twitching at the dent in the table from where Leliana had stabbed the map with, while Cullen shudders at a dent in the wall from where Cassandra had punched in a dispute. As she goes to light the last torch in the room, Cullen moves towards her, wrapping his arms gently around her.

Her mouth curled at a thought, "What if I wasn't the Herald of Andraste?" she asked. "If it was someone like Cassandra, or you... Maybe you would've done a better job that me" she says in a slightly joking tone, but doubt was weaved in those words as well.

"Don't say that," he says, as she turns around to face him. She was crying, but the tears were gentle, the tears that fall when you miss something that you could never take back. The life Evelynn used to had was gone, as she was now the Inquisitor, the Herald of Andraste. Large titles were anointed onto her within a moment's notice, branding her in a duty in which she felt so lost in doing. She had guidance from her advisors, her friends, but it didn't feel enough for her. When all of the world turns to look at her in the moment of truth, confronting Corypheus, where would she step? What would she do?

"I'm so lost, Cullen," she said quietly, moving in to hide her face in his armor as she hugs him. "I don't want anything to happen to Skyhold. I don't want to lose another haven, a home! But... I don't know how to protect it. I have our friends, the Inquisition, our allies but... I don't know if we're prepared enough to win this battle."

She goes silent, contemplating on her words like unsolvable riddles through the tears that dripped down her eyes.

"All those lives..." she said, slightly choking on her words as she tries to hold back the guilt inside her. "I feel so responsible for making Corypheus attack us."

"Inquisitor, you know that it isn't your fau-"

"I know! I know it shouldn't be my fault but..." she cries, her voice piercing through her sadness as it struggled to escape from her throat. She didn't know how to say it, both of them knew that Corypheus' attack was sudden and nobody in the Inquisition would know how quickly he would react. Even so, the burden of being ruin to Haven weighed her down like the responsibilities of possessing the anchor. Evelynn stops holding her tears back, letting her sorrow out and letting her tears flow out like a river, stinging her face as it turns frosty. They embraced each other for a while, letting the warmth from their bodies carry them into a world of solitude, while remembering the lives that were lost on that horrid day.

"Inquisitor..." Cullen said as he placed his hand on her head, letting his fingers wrap around her hair which held a tinged of warmth which stemmed from the roots. "Don't forget that you're not alone. You have the inquisition," he moves her back, sliding his hand up from her waist to her neck, lifting her chin up gently as their eyes stare at each other. His hazel eyes were clear in the foggy surroundings which were clouded by Evelynn's brimming tears, his face gets closer, their breaths warming their faces.

"You have me." His voice came out a divine whisper, soothing her troubled thoughts.

He leaned in slowly, tilting his head slightly followed a soft kiss which expelled the cold from their faces. They break away for a moment, but he wanted more, Cullen pushing her towards the wall to plant a stronger kiss. Evelynn slips one hand up his hair, gently grabbing onto it as he pressed forward. She began to forget about her tears, letting the feeling of desire of one another flow between them.

"Cullen? Don't we have to get back to Skyhold soon?" Evelynn asks quietly, trying to catch her breath. He smirks, capturing her heart with the twitch of his lips.

"I don't think they will need us that soon," he says, returning to kissing her. His hand goes under her robe, making her yelp slightly at his cold skin, his other hand reaching down her breeches, pushing the fabric down. Evelynn surrenders to him, grasping onto his body stronger for support. His lips move down to her neck, tickling her skin as it brushed against it. He whispers out her name, each moan like music to her ears, ringing like a delicate siren. They stayed together, their bodies pressed against each other in the heat of lust and desire. And when their bodies became one, Evelynn's worries faded away like wind, carrying her doubts with each breeze.

 

\--- Meanwhile in Skyhold ---  
"Commander!" Cassandra shouts, storming around the barracks to search for one of the missing advisers. When she pushes open the door to his office, she sees Leliana already there.

"There are no notes or anything which says where he and the Inquisitor have gone," she frowns, throwing back the random notes that now scatter on his desk.

"Ugh, this is unlike him to abandon his duty," Cassandra says angrily, placing her hands on her hips as she reflects on the issue.

"There's no information on when he would come back either," she says, wandering around the room.

Cassandra let out another disgusted noise, "I guess we have to plan the attack on ************ ourselves, as well as sending troops to ********* to help the refugees."

Leliana nods reluctantly, "And when he returns, I'll make sure Josephine and I will plan certain areas of... discussion in which the Commander will not enjoy," her frown turning into a mischievous smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Cullen shivers slightly, as him and Evelynn cuddle under the random assortment of clothes piled onto of them.
> 
> "Are you cold, Cullen?" Evelynn asks, rolling onto his chest as she stared at him.
> 
> "I think I.... might've forgotten something."
> 
> "Oh don't worry, hopefully it won't be something serious."
> 
> "Yes..." he says, Evelynn snuggling her head into his chest. "Hopefully."


End file.
